The present invention relates to a system and method for managing medical patient records and, more particularly, to a computerized system and method which provides for the capture, storage, processing, communication, security and presentation of non-redundant patient health information over an Internet connection.
It is believed that prior to the present invention nearly all communication between doctors' offices regarding patient records has been by paper or by telephone. This is also true of communications between doctors' offices and insurers, HMOs, MCOs, hospitals, and a pharmacies. Known medical data systems have suffered from undesirable data cluttering due to attempting to be all encompassing and have been generally designed around information gathering parameters, rather than providing narrowly focused and unobtrusive management of the patient records. It is further believed that no single system has gained wide acceptance for medical records management in the office environment, and none has been designed for data sharing among multiple users.
In view of the above-described issues, it would be desirable to provide a system that is user-friendly, and provides straightforward inquiry screens which display essential patient information from the doctor's viewpoint, such as diagnosis and treatment plans. It would be further desirable to enable the user “to see” into the thought process of the treating physician. If more detailed information is desired, the viewer may just “point and click” to see the entire text of the physician's progress (or encounter) notes while avoiding the potential for data cluttering due to useful but not necessarily essential data, such as lab tests, scans, and X-rays images. It is also desirable to provide a system and method that would:                Assist specialist practitioners to whom a patient has been referred, by eliminating most requests for file data from referring physicians, and removing guesswork and office time involved in obtaining a complete list of medications which the patient may be using.        Make after hours and emergency hospital visits more risk free because of the availability of patient information on a permanent round-the-clock basis. At present, records are generally unavailable when the physicians' offices are closed. Additionally, records are fragmented and scattered among all practitioners with whom the patient is associated. Even in those rare instances where the patient in the emergency room is knowledgeable concerning his own medical history and drug therapies, if he or she is in shock, in great pain, or unconscious, it is currently difficult for the attending physician to quickly obtain patient medical data.        Enable druggists to avoid drug interactions and allergic reactions in filing prescriptions. Since patients may obtain their prescription medications from more than one location, then it is currently very difficult, if not impossible, for pharmacists to fulfill their potential in helping patients avoid adverse drug interactions.        Enable health insurers, such as HMOs and managed care companies, to perform the required quality assurance inspections and utilization reviews off-site with the click of a button at a fraction of the current costs. Both of these functions are currently performed by inspectors and auditors who actually go to the practitioner's office and have his/her staff pull files. The individual files are then reviewed and certain documents (i.e., the progress notes, problem list, treatment plan and drug list) may be copied by the doctor's staff. Then the files need to be returned to their proper place and annotated. This process is expensive for both companies and for the physicians, which of course translates into higher costs for patients.        